Maurice Sweeney graduated from Dun Laoghaire College of Art and Design with a BA Hons Degree in Film Direction. His graduate film won him awards both in Ireland and Europe. Initially directing commercials, Sweeney was the first Irish director to win a Gold Shark at the International Advertising Festival in Kinsale 1999, for a series of commercials on Deaf awareness.
He worked for a time in West Africa, as a developer and trainer of local television directors and cameramen. He then went on to direct the first Meet the Family series and the highly acclaimed nine part series on disability in Ireland, Three 60.
Sweeney directed the That Was Then, This is Now, a ninety minute documentary specially commissioned as part of RTÉ’s celebrated Time of Our Lives season.
In 2006, Sweeney won the IFTA for Best Sports Feature for RTÉ’s Micheál: The Sound of Sunday and that same year he also won the IFTA for Best Single Documentary for Flann O’Brien: The Lives of Brian, also for RTÉ.
In 2010, Maurice filmed and directed the widely acclaimed The Forgotten Irish, dealing with the emigration to Britain in the 1950's.
In recognition for his film work, Maurice was selected as a board member of The Irish Film Board in 2013.
In 2016 he directed 2 episodes of the IFTA nominated Trial of The Century starring Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Andrew Bennett and David Heap as well as the docudrama Barbarians Rising for the History Channel.
